High school football: Kirtland rolls past Crestview; Youngstown Ursuline is next

WARREN -- Tiger Laverde knew it. Now the rest of the area -- and maybe the state -- knows it, too.

The Kirtland football team is not a one-man show.

The Hornets don't survive on Damon Washington alone.

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With Kirtland's All-Ohio back limited offensively because of a shoulder injury, the Hornets didn't give Columbiana Crestview a steady diet of Damon Washington.

They gave the Rebels a steady diet of everyone else.

Adam Hess ran for two touchdowns and three Hornets besides Washington ran for 60 yards or more, paving the way for a 28-14 win over Crestview on Saturday in a regional semifinal at Mollenkopf Stadium.

The win puts the 12-0 Hornets into the Division V, Region 17 championship game next Saturday against Youngstown Ursuline (8-4). The site will be announced Sunday.

"I had a lot of confidence in my teammates," said Washington. "It's a team. There's no I in team. We had a lot of players step up tonight."

Such as sophomore battering ram Hess, who ran for 68 yards on 18 carries, including touchdown runs of 4 and 5 yards.

Such as Sam Kukura, who ran for 60 yards on 10 carries, including a game-clinching 25-yard score late in the fourth quarter that staked the Hornets to a 28-7 lead.

Such as quarterback Scott Eilerman, who ran for 68 yards on 11 carries.

Washington ran for 120 yards on 11 carries, including a slick 54-yard touchdown run on his team's first drive of the game. But after injuring his shoulder in the second quarter, he carried the ball only three times for 2 yards in the second half.

Washington stayed in the game to dot the I in Kirtland's vaunted Stack-I offense, but did little more than serve as a decoy the last 24 minutes, while his teammates picked up the slack.

"We've got a bunch of good backs," LaVerde said. "We started the year and counted like nine guys that we feel comfortable putting in there. When Damon got dinged up, we were only in our 2, 3 or 4 backs. We're very fortunate to have the depth we do at running back."

With the game still hanging in the balance at the half, thanks to a 12-yard touchdown run by Crestview's Nick Blower late the second quarter, the Kirtland coaching staff put a lot of emphasis on the opening drive of the third quarter with a slim 14-7 lead.

Kirtland responded with a 12-play, 67-yard march that ended in a 5-yard run by Hess and a 21-7 lead.

"That was big," LaVerde said. "Fourteen-7, a one-score game. The first two plays (a run for no gain and an incomplete pass) didn't look that hot, but the rest of the drive went all right."

The Rebels (11-1) entered the game averaging 55.8 points per game. But besides Blower's touchdown run late in the first half and a, for all intents and purposes, meaningless touchdown pass with 16 seconds left in the game, Crestview's offense was shut down.

Crestview got a 113-yard rushing performance from Blower. But after a 51-yard run early, he had 62 yards on his remaining 17 carries.

QB Collin Gilbert was 2-for-17 passing for 39 yards.

Kirtland's defense shined the brightest in the second half, getting a key stop on fourth down that denied Crestview a scoring opportunity, getting an interception from Kukura that led to Kukura running in his team's final score, and then getting another interception by Anthony Veneri to thwart another drive.

"We take it upon ourselves to stop every offense that steps on the field," said Kirtland defensive lineman Canon Schroeder.

Kirtland turned the ball over twice deep in their territory, but neither resulted in points as the Hornets' defense got the key stops.